Non Profits

The popular myth for a non-profit organization executive is to ask, "Why anyone would want to hack us?" The nefarious nature makes non-profits easy targets because they often invest less in employee training and IT security.

You see a pamphlet or a charity commercial about suffering kids in third world countries. Do you feel the kind of empathy that facilitates generosity, or do you feel the uncomfortable guilt that you try to avoid? At first, the shocking statistics and graphic photos worked -- the message was powerful and emotive. But after one too many pamphlets and commercials, the message is plain.

Throughout my childhood my family sat down to dinner together every night. One particular dinner stands out in my memory as the day my life changed. "You have an eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa," my mom said. "Bet you can't say that three times fast!" my dad added, trying to lighten the mood. "Your vision will continue to get worse."

Age is a game and tricky one to master -- as a young professional, there are times where youth plays to your advantage and other times where it does not. In the startup not-for-profit (NFP) world however, youth is becoming an increasingly advantageous asset.

The pre-election debate on improving the Canada Pension Plan is important and overdue. Despite the Harper government's reluctance, there is a broad consensus that, as a national newspaper said recently, "raising mandatory CPP contribution rates and boosting future payouts are the most prudent, most effective and least costly fix." But that's not enough.

When we help, the patient become the doctor, the student become the teacher, the troubled youth become the counsellor -- when the helped becomes the helper -- the impact multiplies by orders of magnitude. It's the difference between giving youth a seedling to plant, and empowering them to lead their community in growing forest.

Anyone in the not-for-profit sector knows that things don't always go according to plan. Sometimes you're scrambling for funding, and other times (if you're fortunate), you have a lot of freedom to implement new programs. If you've missed a milestone, don't fixate on it. Instead, find ways to adapt and realign your strategy.

Not only is the millennial generation changing the meaning of corporate, they are also changing how corporations are run. Increasingly, corporations are changing their mission statements to better reflect the "triple bottom line," which emphasize their corporate social responsibility initiatives as a means to better appeal to the next generation of employees.

As the dawn of a New Year begins, many of us are making New Year's resolutions both of a professional and personal nature. From eating healthier to taking steps to get that promotion, individuals around the globe are cleaning up the detritus from 2013 and making new resolutions for 2014. In the drive to create new personal and professional resolutions, we should not forget about resolutions to help those less fortune around us.

"Most people don't like talking about the earthquake, but someone always asks. It's just so painful to remember." It's my first time visiting Haiti, and while it's as hot as I expected (maybe hotter), I wasn't prepared for the beauty of the country.

What we've learned at Facebook is that with more than 18 million active users across the country, Canadian charities have the potential to use the social network to engage and inspire people to tap into their connections, helping to raise awareness and donations.

When I look at the partnerships that haven't worked, I can see now that part of the reason why was that we didn't share the same values. We hadn't taken the time to really get to know one another -- to discuss our vision, or to agree on goals and the desired outcome.

I was stunned and saddened to learn that food blogger Jennifer Perillo's husband passed away, leaving Jennie a devastated widow and single parent to their two daughters. Within hours I could see a flood of tweets asking the same questions over and over again: "How can we help? What can we do for Jennie?"